Common Cuckoo
Cuculus canorus
Found in woodland, heathland, farmland with hedges, marshes with scattered bushes. "COO-koo" song (like a cuckoo clock) often given from open perch. Note long wings and tail, barred belly, rather small bill. Flight direct and often low, suggesting a hawk or falcon. Extremely similar in appearance to various other Cuculus cuckoos across its range; note the combination of white vent, staring yellow irises, and overall large size. Lays eggs in nests of other birds, particularly pipits and reed warblers, which raise the young cuckoos.
Identification
The common cuckoo is 32–34 centimetres (13–13 in) long from bill to tail, with a tail of 13–15 centimetres (5.1–5.9 in) and a wingspan of 55–60 centimetres (22–24 in). The legs are short. It has a greyish, slender body and long tail, similar to a sparrowhawk in flight, where the wingbeats are regular. During the breeding season, common cuckoos often settle on an open perch with drooped wings and raised tail. There is a rufous colour morph, which occurs occasionally in adult females but more often in juveniles. It has been hypothesized to have evolved as a deterrence to male harassment or host species mobbing.<p>All adult males are slate-grey; the grey throat extends well down the bird's breast with a sharp demarcation to the barred underparts. The iris, orbital ring, the base of the bill and feet are yellow. Grey adult females have a pinkish-buff or buff background to the barring and neck sides, and sometimes small rufous spots on the median and greater coverts and the outer webs of the secondary feathers.<p>Rufous morph adult females have reddish-brown upperparts with dark grey or black bars. The black upperpart bars are narrower than the rufous bars, as opposed to rufous juvenile birds, where the black bars are broader.<p>Common cuckoos in their first autumn have variable plumage. Some have strongly-barred chestnut-brown upperparts, while others are plain grey. Rufous-brown birds have heavily barred upperparts with some feathers edged with creamy-white. All have whitish edges to the upper wing-coverts and primaries. The secondaries and greater coverts have chestnut bars or spots. In spring, birds hatched in the previous year may retain some barred secondaries and wing-coverts. The most obvious identification features of juvenile common cuckoos are the white nape patch and white feather fringes.<p>Common cuckoos moult twice a year: a partial moult in summer and a complete moult in winter. Males weigh around 130 grams (4.6 oz) and females 110 grams (3.9 oz). The common cuckoo looks very similar to the Oriental cuckoo, which is slightly shorter-winged on average. This resemblance extends even to the rufous morphs, which are also present in Oriental cuckoos. The presence of rufous morphs may well be ancestral to both Oriental cuckoos and common cuckoos.
Taxonomy
The species' binomial name is derived from the Latin cuculus (the cuckoo) and canorus (melodious; from canere, meaning to sing). The cuckoo family gets its common name and genus name by onomatopoeia for the call of the male common cuckoo. The English word "cuckoo" comes from the Old French cucu, and its earliest recorded usage in English is from around 1240, in the song Sumer Is Icumen In. The song is written in Middle English, and the first two lines are: "Svmer is icumen in / Lhude sing cuccu." In modern English, this translates to "Summer has come in / Loudly sing, Cuckoo!".<p>There are four subspecies worldwide:
- Scientific name
- Cuculus canorus
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Cuculus
Range and habitat
Essentially a bird of open land, the common cuckoo is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. Birds arrive in Europe in April and leave in September. The common cuckoo has also occurred as a vagrant in countries including Barbados, the United States, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Indonesia, Palau, Seychelles, Taiwan and China. Between 1995 and 2015, the distribution of cuckoos within the UK has shifted towards the north, with a decline by 69% in England but an increase by 33% in Scotland.
- Breeding range
- PAL : widespread
- Non-breeding range
- OR, AF
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The common cuckoo's diet consists of insects, with hairy caterpillars, which are distasteful to many birds, being a specialty of preference. It also occasionally eats eggs and chicks.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Aplonis crassa
A uniformly blackish starling with a medium-length square tail and a dark eye. Juveniles browner, with streaking below and a rufous-tinged tail. Occurs in the canopy of forest edges, wooded areas, and mangroves, where it is usually encountered in pairs or small groups. Confined to the Tanimbar Islands. Noticeably shorter-tailed than Metallic Starling, with less colorful plumage gloss and a dark eye. Calls include a harsh, metallic “brrrrrit” and a disyllabic “tzewit.”
Jackson's Widowbird
Euplectes jacksoni
A medium-sized dark widowbird. Breeding males are unmistakable, with a long downcurved tail and rufous shoulders. Non-breeding males lose their long tail and become streaky and brown, but keep the shoulder pattern. Females are brown and streaky year-round. Breeds in montane grassland, but sometimes found in cultivation and other open habitats. Otherwise usually in flocks, especially when not breeding. Males give an odd display in which they jump straight into the air. Females could be confused with many other species, but even during the non-breeding season are usually associated with males, which can be identified by their shoulder pattern. Non-breeding males could be confused with non-breeding male Fan-tailed Widowbird, but have a more restricted and less orange shoulder patch. The main vocalization is a dry “zrit.”
Akun Eagle-Owl
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A small insectivorous eagle-owl that sallies to catch flying insects from mid-canopy perches near openings in lowland forest. Has a distinctive pale belly with large dark spots, a brownish-gray face and back, yellow eyes, and a banded tail. Vocalizations include soft grunts, a short ascending or descending whistled “woooh,” and short trilled calls. Vocalizations can resemble those of other eagle-owls within its range, but Akun Eagle-Owl’s distinctive pale belly and large, obvious spotting on a mostly white chest are unique.
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